Jacqueline Jimenez presents case studies for best practices with blogging.

-Create value added blog content
-Increase Blog Content Exposure
-Increase Sales with Blog Content
-Value of Featured Influencer Blog Content

Download (PDF, 3.12MB)

Slides from Blogging for Business Presentation:

https://speakerdeck.com/jackiej04/socialbizmembers-your-power-of-blog-insider-beauty

YOUR Power Of BLOG Insider Beauty – JJ   (PDF)

Also, this presentation below supplements what I am covering today. I presented it in March at the WordCamp Miami Beginners Workshop.

Slides from WordCamp Miami Top Plugins Presentation:

https://speakerdeck.com/jackiej04/wordcamp-miami-beginners-workshop-march-23-top-plugins-for-your-website

http://2013.miami.wordcamp.org

WordCamp Miami 2013 is a three-day event that covers topics relating to WordPress, front-end development, and much more. 2012 brought more than 400 students, bloggers, and coders together for two days of education and fun. Expect big things for the 4th Annual WordCamp in Miami for 2013.

Enjoy~

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I couldn’t decide whether I wanted “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys to title this blog post, or “NY State of Mind” by Billy Joel. Let’s consider it a fusion of the two, since I like both.

I digress. Every once and a while, I get an itch to go see NYC. I left my heart there, even though my family is in NJ. I’m planning on going up for my Grandma’s 93rd birthday. Yes, I said it. Ninety-third!! She’s such a trooper.

Anyway, there’s something about New York evokes a feeling you can’t get elsewhere. Being about an hour train ride away when I grew up in NJ, I would constantly be in “the city”.

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of

New York is truly the place where dreams come true. If you can make it there, you can literally make it anywhere. I have so many spots and places ingrained in my brain, but nothing stands out more than the pizza places and Italian delis that I would just salivate over. Being half Italian, there’s nothing like being surrounded by your people. NY is home in my heart.

I’ve been dreaming lately. Taking the scenic route to and from work. That is, the drive in Delray Beach on A1A. I look at the huge houses on the beach and envision my car in the driveway and my dog I’ll have one day running through the yard. Half of the year I envision myself living in some nice Manhattan apartment. A girl can dream, right? Avoid the winters and live in FL when it’s cold up there

Some May Say That I’m a Dreamer, but I’m Not the Only One

Hey, almost half of my dream has been met, I did move to Florida to avoid the cold for a reason!

Here’s to the dreamers and the doers. One day let’s celebrate in that swanky NYC apartment and realize that all that hard work led to this. One day.

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This quote sparked the reflective side in me. After years of working as a consultant for different agencies, both in Orlando and South Florida, I had no idea that my path of most resistance was preparing me to start my own company, or now merge with another. Let alone find a business partner over 1 year ago. I wondered why I didn’t go the route of always being an employee, though the economy crash in 2008 propelled me into this path of independence.

Looking at the quote above, Gary Vaynerchuk has a poignant outlook on life. Why wait? Why have dreams and regret not taking the leap when too much time has passed? Starting a business is a scary thing. Keeping it thrive leads to sleepless nights, worry, yet above all that– it’s the most thrilling time. I wouldn’t regret the chances I’ve made. Ever.

Funny thing is, people used to look at my resume. That is, when I used to write one of those. They’d wonder why I haven’t stayed with an employer for more than a year since graduating college in ’08. Truth of the matter is, I’m a fast moving girl. If I don’t see opportunity for advancement, I move onto the next and better opportunity. Leads me to today when I take a step back and am grateful for every opportunity that has come my way.

This past Friday, I attended TEDxDelrayBeach with blogger friends of mine. I was so ecstatic to be invited. Having following TED and TEDx talks for a while, I always feel so inspired. That’s a state of mind that I always enjoy experiencing.

I arrived at Old School Square shortly after lunch and was greeted by a lively room of bloggers in the simulcast room. We were blogging and tweeting all day, enjoying the talks that were happening one room away.

I felt most inspired by a young 13 year old entrepreneur, Becca Zerbo from Positive Pocket. She spoke to a large crowd in the morning and when I spoke to her, I felt honored to be in her presence. Bullying in schools is an epidemic. She is doing something about it. Becca created the Positive Pocket, positive affirmation cards that could fit in one’s back pocket, or book bag. She also created the inspirational sayings in Positive Pocket jeans, and launched a Kickstarter Project. This girl is going places.

I felt inspired to contribute to her positive wall, as seen here:

In which people probably recognize the quote from Syed Balkhi‘s presentation from WordCamp Miami in years past and present.

I had an amazing feeling, standing a few feet away from the speakers. We were surprised and brought on stage to celebrate the ending festivities. All in all, you can tell my day was…amazing. At a loss for words almost!

What is a dream that’s worth remembering? Having the courage to tell my story some day and inspire others at TEDx. Coming to truth in front of a crowd of 600 people has got to be invigorating. I’m building my speaker’s profile one step at a time and I’m glad I got to experience TEDxDelrayBeach from the audience and blogger’s POV.

There were so many wonderful moments last Friday within the Old School Square building. From getting RedBull to reply to us on Twitter (for social media fanatics, that’s a pat on the back or bonding over some inspiring talks, it was a great atmosphere for both the tech industry in South Florida and Delray Beach community. It’s a cohesive town and TEDxDelrayBeach showed the community love.

RT @karynalvarado @socialmediasass: We found some Redbull fanatics at #TEDxDelrayBeach @icequeen057twitter.com/SocialMediaSas…#TEDxDelrayBeach

— Rick Solari (@RickSolari) May 3, 2013

TEDxDelray Beach volunteers on stage

Just another inspiring day in South Florida. Now if anyone can answer when TEDx Women will be, that’d be lovely. News story recap from Sun Sentinel: When great minds get together, it’s contagious. It’s a wrap!
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-05-03/news/fl-delray-tedx-20130503_1_ted-talks-ideas-worth-spreading-modernizing-medicine

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I Got Half a Smile and Zero Shame

In my late twenties, I have more notable experience than I actually share. I don’t really know why, but I did hear from Tara Husband that women need to share their achievements more. For some reason, we’re selfless, less self-promotional, and maybe that attributes to having less egos than men. Then again, we don’t carry testosterone like men do.

I digress. Looking at my bios, and the content I have on this website within the About or Consultant page, I realize that I am underselling myself.

I’ve gotten Ripley’s Believe It or Not! on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Even though its an international brand, the last time Ripley’s had a front page article was over 10 years ago. I broke the dry spell. It’s a feat to get any placement within the WSJ, let alone the front page in print and online. I did it. I also launched a Facebook campaign for their book launch internationally to over 30,000 fans.

Again, I don’t know why I don’t talk about this. It’s a huge selling point. It’s a way to show my expertise. Maybe I’m focused on the here and the now too much, and don’t show what brought me here.

I’ve worked with Marriott Vacation Club, Intl., the #1 hospitality brand both in the hotel and timeshare industry. Again, most people don’t know that. Kicking myself in the butt for not speaking my truth!

I Got a Reflection with a Different Name

As I’m merging with Alcantara Media, I’ll still be writing here. I can let loose with my passion for writing. I will, however, be changing around this blog as it is due for an overhaul. Whenever I get a free moment, of course.

I’ll still be focusing on integrated marketing. My talent cascades into effective messaging through social media, online PR, email marketing, and conversion on websites. Essentially, I integrate marketing strategies for businesses and brands throughout their online entities.

Carry the Weight of the World in the Palm of My Hands

I’ll be speaking on the subject, too. Next up, I’ll be speaking at Social Biz Members monthly luncheon on May 15th. The topic you ask? Blogging. I’ll be talking on real case studies and of course, WordPress. Want to attend? Go to Social Biz Members on EventBrite and enter coupon code “Jackie”. You’re welcome.

What will I be speaking about my truth next? You’ll just have to wait and see!

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https://socialbizmembersblogmay2013.eventbrite.com/

Where were you when the news hit?

I just left a promising meeting in Miami as my business partner and I stopped locally for lunch. Less than 20 minutes after the bomb hit, sometime around 3:10 PM, CNN and Fox News had taken over the television screens. Both newscasts reported that two bombs hit the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Speculations were running a muck. I took to Twitter first, rather than continuously watching the silent news unfold on television.

Funny thing is, I know how the news cycle works. News breaks faster on Twitter than it does on television. The news that Osama Bin Laden was captured released on Twitter before TV. The news about Whitney Houston’s death broke 26 minutes before TV got a hold of it live. The list goes on.

Fabricated news

There are a couple gatekeepers that need to approve what “news” goes out on television newscasts. So many people have become citizen journalists that Twitter gives a much more accurate report. Sad, but true. This is why I don’t watch the daily news anymore.

I have become jaded to the way journalism is today. Quite a sad thing, as I’m not the only one. Back in 2001, television, radio, and newspapers where primarily where people consumed news. It was also more accurate. Today, that is no longer the case.

Citizen journalism

With the use of smart phones, I was able to feel and see how people were coping just meters away from the marathon finish line. I empathized with those running or involved with the Boston Marathon, as it is one of the country’s largest marathons. It is supposed to be a day of joy and accomplishment, yet it was eclipsed by tragedy.

I have gone back & forth this week on whether I wanted to write about this week’s happenings. After Elvis Duran and the Morning Show of all things, I finally became motivated to speak my mind.

What happened in Boston was very tragic. What people need to question is the state of the news cycle today. Reporters are trained to use certain words or drip news to keep people tuned into the television. They don’t report the news like it used to be. September 11th changed a heck of a lot. They don’t want to drop the word “terrorist” in their reporting to not scare the masses. They want to report speculation to protect those involved with investigation, as well as government officials.

News on Twitter vs Television

What I saw on Twitter was blood, injured children, and video of the bombing which eerily reminded me of the plane crash during the morning of September 11th. We don’t have an accurate reporting almost one week later, but what we do know is that it is intentional and not an accident. This was planned.

With a massive event such as the Boston Marathon, more than 400 National Guard were in attendance. More than 500 thousand people were expected as of Sunday night. The ratio just doesn’t seem right. Yes, it is a massive event, so it is nearly impossible to protect all in attendance, but 400 National Guard in addition to a police force and officials just doesn’t seem like all security measures were in place.

Via ABC News Online:

More than 26,00 runners were registered to compete in this year’s marathon. The marathon clock was at shortly after four hours at the time of the explosions, which is the average time it takes runners to complete the Boston race, potentially putting the greatest number of competitors at risk.”

“At least 70 people were injured, including several children with severe trauma, when bombs exploded almost simultaneously near the marathon finish line,” police said. Three people died. Many remain in hospitals.

We are shaken, but not foresaken

Honestly, I don’t know what to think. Part of my brain remembers how much training it takes to prepare for a marathon. Runners had no idea that they would cross the finish line and run into tragedy. Attendees had no idea that they were flying or traveling into an almost war zone. Innocent lives were affected.

What I do know is that Boston is a resilient city. Sunday brings faith and healing in Boston. For now, all we can do is pray. Pray for a better tomorrow and to bring less injustice into the world.

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A sigh of relief will soon be upon me. Life has been hectic lately, work endeavors are growing, and personal development is always evolving. For the past year, I have been heavily involved in the planning stages of bringing the WordPress community here in South Florida cohesively together again.

I’ve seen great growth in not only myself, but the leaders surrounding and ahead of me. What once was my goal of building up myself as a local public speaker came to an achievement that I wouldn’t think would happen so soon. Or maybe didn’t expect it, as I’ve built my speaker profile step by step.

Last week, I was chosen and gladly accepted to join Miami Public Speakers:

Miami Public Speakers, a leading speakers bureau providing quality speakers for conferences and events in Florida, recently added Social Media and Marketing Speaker Jacqueline Jimenez to its roster of qualified speakers.

They even sent out a fancy PRWeb press release out for me.

Jacqueline Jimenez Joins Miami Public Speakers <- That’s a PDF of the release in case you’re wondering.

A snippet of the release:

Jacqueline Jimenez is a marketing consultant and head organizer of the South Florida WordPress Meetup Group, the 16th largest group in the world out of over 400 WordPress Meetup Groups worldwide.

As the Marketing Director at AlcantaraMedia, Jacqueline focuses on every piece of the integrated marketing puzzle at the Boca Raton SEO Firm. She often speaks about social media, marketing strategies, as well as effective WordPress development at conferences and events in Florida. Most recently, Jacqueline will speak at WordCamp Miami 2013 on top WordPress plugins for building a new website.

It even got picked up by Yahoo! News and WordPress Magazine.

Two things to note: I recently spoke at Nova Southeastern University at our Fort Lauderdale WordCamp Beginners Workshop. That presentation is here:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/30281057

Beginners WordPress Workshop (March 23rd) – Held in Davie, FL on March 23rd at Nova Southeastern University.

Alcantara Media – Contact Us

Second thing to announce is that I am the Marketing Director at Alcantara Media. I found it fitting to officially announce it on the Press Release, though I’ve worked with Alcantara Media side by side with my company for a year now. We share the same office, so it’s time for be to not be so stubborn about things

That being said, I’m really looking forward to WordCamp Miami 2013 on April 5-7, 2013. You should be, too. Here are 11 reasons why WordCamp Miami is Going to Be Freaking Awesome This Year.

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It’s interesting how I come up with my blog post titles. Usually, it comes from inspiration of what I like to write about and the song title just comes to me.

Why am I writing about just getting paid, you ask? The IRS just paid me back! Feels good to catch up on some things and also to be able to finally treat myself. That is, since my birthday was right around the corner. I’ve been going nonstop lately, like the energizer bunny, and I haven’t taken the time to treat myself.

Usually I like to spend my weekends to recap and recharge, while also planning a little bit ahead. As a business owner, it’s hard to take a day off. I finally did it last Monday since I was exhausted from a trip back from Miami. I didn’t check my email for two days! It felt good to just cut off technology when I most needed it.

I mentioned in my last post that I’m full of Wanderlust. I’m also at a crossroads in my life and am wondering which road to take. Though I have taken many risks before – uprooting my life in NJ and moving to FL, leaving a full-time job twice for the life of an entrepreneur, and now – the choices that lay ahead of me personally and professionally.

Not to mention I’m slightly burnt out and need a break. My staycation last week was not enough. Being near the home makes it hard to completely break away from work.

I’m also feeling an insatiable desire to discover new places. Guess I gotta fit a little getaway into the schedule and budget. I finally need to have a long weekend without technology and full of wanderlust.

How am I going to pick the road more or less traveled? Going back to the drawing board with a Pros & Cons list! Stay tuned

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What am I reflecting upon lately? The state of change going on in my life. I feel as if I’m at a crossroads. Things are going to change for the better, though I keep on running. What am I running towards? Opportunity. Why am I running? Because I do things full speed ahead.

Now that WordCamp Miami is over, there is opportunity for change. A lot of my focus in the past couple months was on WordCamp Miami, and a lot of interest lied there. Now that we have a strong team and the leadership of David Bisset excelled, WordCamp Miami 2013 went off with a bang. We now have a core WP community, stronger than ever in South Florida, and we are able to take our monthly meetups to the next level.

That’s not the only thing I’m running towards. I feel an inner satisfaction when I speak in front of audiences. I reach a level of focus with public speaking that just puts me into a zone. I excel and am passionate about teaching marketing strategy, or speaking about a given Social Media, WordPress, or Internet Marketing topic. I feel even more gratitude when I see the audience members appreciating my devotion to a given topic.

I’ve always worked towards consistently improving through public speaking, even dating back to high school. There’s a rush that I get speaking in front of larger and more challenging crowds that I can’t get anywhere else.

So where am I running towards? A position where I’ll be able to become a paid public speaker.

I am full of wanderlust. I desire to see places I’ve never seen before. I want to attend conferences, often traveling back to agency life where I can implement new strategies for clients.

I’m running with a big grin on my face. I envision that finish line that propels me into true professional satisfaction. Running with a purpose. With a passion. With a destination.

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I will be laying low until about tomorrow night. That is, recuperating from a long 4 day weekend preparing and executing for what I’ve been involved with for the past 6 months.

Most of the planning started in late December, but the lovely core WordCamp team has been diligently working (especially in March) to get the final touches together for the Beginner’s Workshop at Nova Southeastern University on March 23rd, in which I spoke on “Must Have” Plugins for Your WordPress Site.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/30281057

We also had BuddyCamp, which was David Bisset’s idea on having the first ever BuddyPress “conference” in the US, aside from it being in Toronto previously. This past Saturday was the main day of WordCamp Miami, and Sunday was special as it had a business and explorer track.

Sunday was my favorite day, the time when the speakers I was most looking forward to seeing knocked it out of the ballpark. Or computer screen. Whichever.

Chris Lema – WordCamp Miami 2013 Talk

Anywho. I am exhausted, relieved, excited for the future, and ecstatic about how great WordCamp Miami turned out. What once was wading through tons of emails and responding with my $.02, came to fruition of seeing 500 people arrive with happy grins throughout the weekend.

WordCamp Miami

Our after party at Finnegans on the River was stellar. Except for the fact that I was a hungry beast and the wait staff didn’t notice they forgot my order. An aside if you will, don’t mess with an Italian/Colombian lady that hasn’t had her food and gets hungry every 3 hours on the dot. I get cranky. At least we had the nice Miami skyline to make it all seem better.

What was the icing on the cake was the boat ride that Fernando, one of our attendees, graciously invited us to join and experience Miami for its night time beauty. That’s when I finally felt that spending part of my birthday on Thursday, stuffing hundreds of swag bags, made all the work worth it. I got to breathe and take in the spring air with my friends and people I met along the WordCamp way.

All in all, the talks were engaging and educational, BBQ spread on Saturday was spot on, & food trucks on Sunday gave a nice flair. Holy moly the amount of SWAG from tshirts to buttons and bags were aplenty.

Photo Credit: Alex Designs

And the ice cream. My gosh the Nutella hazelnut ice cream. Props to Chill’N Nitrogen Ice Cream. For serious.

Photo Via Alex Harris Designs

I’m blessed to have taken over the WordPress South Florida Meetup Group over 1 year ago, to transition into helping to plan the best WordCamp yet. And we’re just getting started

It’s amazing what a little sitting, waiting, wishing and above all — perseverance can do.

Next post – featuring some of my favorite talks. Stay tuned!

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If you are an aspiring Idol contestant, an avid fan or just a casual viewer, the secrets unveiled in Uberstar – The Search For America’s Next Hollywood Superstar will blow you away. The experience of going from nobody to somebody on national television is better than you could have ever imagined. Now, you don’t have to wonder anymore what it is like to be on American Idol.

Vaughn Alaine-Marshall is a reality-TV expert and author. Inter­viewed for CNN and FOX, he is reg­u­larly fea­tured in: Reality-TV Magazine, Buzz Sugar, Yahoo! Shine, Gather.com, DivaToolBox.com, and Wellness.com.

Recently Vaughn and I were on SocialChats with the always entertaining Tonya Scholz. Take a look at the interview:

Social Chats: http://www.spreecast.com/events/socialchats-kickstarter-campaign

Audio Recording: Kickstarter32213

Social Chats is all about building your business and personal brand through the power of social media, using social media sites and other means of traditional technology to promote your business. Online Radio Show.

Learn more about the initiatives and donate – Kickstart Uberstar

Download a free preview copy of the book at UberstartheBook.com

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